—even if their homes are far apart and their dwellings scattered.

I said, “Tell me something from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace— a ḥadith that I can memorise from you.” He wept, invoked blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and said:

“I never met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. At most I have seen those who saw him—ʿUmar and others. I do not wish to open this door for myself; I do not like to be a storyteller (1) or a muftī.”

Haram then asked him to recite a portion of the Qur’an, so he recited:
“Indeed, the Day of Decision is the appointed time for all of them, the Day when no patron shall avail a patron in the least, and they will not be helped—except those upon whom Allah shows mercy; surely He is the All-Mighty, the All-Merciful.” (Sūrah al-Dukhān 44:40–42)

He continued, “O Haram ibn Ḥayyān, your father has died and you are soon to die; it will be either to Paradise or to Hell.
Adam died, and Eve died; Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad ﷺ died; Abū Bakr, the caliph of the Muslims, died; and my brother, my friend, my chosen companion ʿUmar has died—alas for ʿUmar, alas for ʿUmar!”

Haram adds: “This was toward the end of ʿUmar’s caliphate.
I said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you—ʿUmar has not died!’
He replied, ‘Indeed he has. My Lord has informed me of it. I know what I am saying, and tomorrow you and I will be among the dead.’”

Then he offered some whispered supplications (2)… and the rest of the incident was mentioned.

Abū Nuʿaym cites this report in al-Ḥilya (3), but it is not authentic and contains elements that are objectionable.

Asbagh ibn Zayd said, “What prevented Uways from coming to the Prophet ﷺ was his devotion to his mother.” (4)

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ashʿath ibn Sawwār narrated to us, from Muḥārib ibn Dithār, who said: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Among my community are those who are unable to come…"